Pokemon: Bounty Hunter Alex

Chapter 602: Chapter 602. Advanced Knight Training 1

Several miles inland from the coast, a fortified outpost stood on the edge of Wedgehurst Kingdom’s eastern wilds, separating the settled lands from the surrounding wilderness. Its wooden palisades and watchtowers overlooked the dense forest, where monsters and other dangers made the region unsuitable for ordinary settlement.

A hundred recruits were stationed at the outpost under the command of Captain Thomas, undergoing advanced knight training before being assigned elsewhere. No soldier came to the eastern wilds seeking glory, but it was an important posting for those hoping to earn a place among the kingdom’s knights.

Thomas sat behind a battered oak desk, staring at a mountain of paperwork with the exhausted expression of a man contemplating his own execution. Broad and heavily built, he had graying brown hair, a short beard, and several scars across his hands. After thirty years commanding the outpost through magical creatures, monsters, bandits, and harsh winters, he had found nothing more irritating than dealing with the nobility.

He dipped his quill into the ink and frowned at the latest report. Another young noble had lost an arm during a sparring match that allowed combat techniques, making him yet another addition to the growing list of nobles who had learned the hard way that training here came with real consequences.

A knock sounded, and his adjutant entered carrying another stack of papers. William, a neatly dressed man in his early thirties, placed the bundle on the desk.

”Captain, I have the latest training assessments.”

”Anyone decent this time?” Thomas asked, eyeing the bundle suspiciously.

”A few,” William said, sifting through the paperwork before pulling out a dozen papers. ”The usual nobles fresh from the academies, a few promising recruits who had been recommended by other Captains based on their service in the militia and city guards, and several adventurers who were personally recommended by nobles.”

Thomas pushed aside the report concerning the washed-out noble who had lost an arm and took the stack from William.

”Which ones actually stand out?”

William sighed and separated three papers from the rest.

”These three. They’re noble recommendations, sent here to learn advanced breathing and combat techniques. This one in particular...” he said, tapping the first file.

”How much did you fleece the nobles for?”

”Three hundred gold each. This one paid five hundred.”

”Good,” Thomas said with an approving nod. ”That should keep the outpost running for another three years.”

Their outpost existed to personally teach soldiers the techniques and knowledge needed to eventually reach the standard expected of Rank 4 Knights. Most recruits were either Peasants or Rank 1 and Rank 2 Knights seeking to advance, and once they properly understood the training, they were free to leave and continue developing on their own, often with good prospects of being recommended for positions in the kingdom’s army, a noble’s personal knights, or even among the nobility if they had the proper background or achievements. The kingdom’s funding, however, was hardly generous, so they hunted much of their own food and relied on arrangements with wealthy nobles to cover what their budget couldn’t.

”Alex. 24 years old. Commoner. Below-average swordsmanship. Extremely high physical ability...” Thomas paused, his eyes narrowing at the assessment. ”Rank 2 physique?”

He looked up at William in disbelief.

”I personally observed one of his training runs through the forest. He didn’t sweat once. He maintained a strict demeanor throughout and moved with the composure I’d expect from an instructor rather than a recruit. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was an Assassin Knight capable of concealing his aura perfectly. But he maintained that pace and composure through an entire day of training.” William shook his head. ”He’s not hiding anything. That man is simply that strong.”

”He should be sent to the Royal Knights with a physique like that. Who recommended him?”

”Marquis Benedict Fairchild.”

”That’s a shame. He’d never give up a recruit like this. Though it is suspicious that he’d send someone with this kind of potential here instead of having his own Knight Captain train him to instill some loyalty,” Thomas said with a frown.

”I don’t think he was recruited by the Marquis. From what I understand, this was done as a favor.”

”An adventurer who wanted to become as strong as a knight?” Thomas assumed, glancing back at the file. ”He could have gone to the black market and bought a training manual.”

”Should we still recommend him to the Royal Knights?”

”No. That would be a slight against the Marquis. We’ll do our job, teach him the breathing and combat techniques, then send him on his way.”

”Understood. What about the others?”

Thomas looked through the remaining files before shaking his head. None came close to Alex’s potential.

”Send them off as usual.”

”Understood.”

-----

Alex stood in the outpost’s training grounds with his eyes closed, holding a greatsword taller than himself upright in both hands. He drew a deep breath, flooding his body with the world’s natural energy before bringing the greatsword down in a mighty swing. Before the blade could slam into the ground, he stepped to the side, twisted his body, and rotated the sword along a new axis before bringing it down again with another step forward. His breathing grew stronger but remained steady as he thrust the blade forward from a low stance, then swung it to the side, letting its momentum turn his body as his feet carried him through a complex series of steps. He spun like a whirlwind before abruptly halting the blade’s momentum, his feet skidding slightly against the dirt.

He returned to his original stance and exhaled the turbid air from his lungs. Focusing inward, he felt the distinct increase in the Infinity Energy stored within his heart, ready to flare at a moment’s notice to protect him and enhance his strength. A smile tugged at his lips. A month of advanced knight training had made a noticeable difference. Personal instruction was simply more effective than reading a training manual and blindly experimenting to figure out what actually worked.

It had been over a year in his world since he first arrived here on a dimensional expedition. He had returned through the return beacon not long ago with a collection of materials ranging from Elite to Champion rank, a rather modest haul compared to what he normally brought back from an expedition. Since then, most of his time had been spent hunting Master ranked giant Pokémon, overseeing construction, and investigating ways to obtain the restricted knowledge possessed by the Knights and Mages.

He had initially searched for that knowledge by skulking around nobles and reading their memories, eventually uncovering several different training techniques. Unfortunately, simply knowing the techniques wasn’t enough. His own experience with meditation kept interfering with the process, and he needed someone to personally instruct him before he could make any real progress. That was why he had mind-controlled Marquis Fairchild into sending him to this training outpost. He couldn’t arrange for a personal tutor without raising questions about his background, but a recommendation to an outpost specializing in advanced knight training was easy enough to justify. It had worked perfectly, allowing him to finally take the first step toward becoming a Knight.

Alex had always been somewhat annoyed by the limitations of his own strength. He was a Master ranked Trainer, yet he couldn’t personally stand against Master ranked Pokémon and had to be cautious even when dealing with those one rank below. It had never sat well with him that he had spent his entire life relying on his Pokémon while remaining on the sidelines himself. He wanted to be in the thick of the action, not cowering behind his team.

He had tried to solve that problem with guns, but their effectiveness began to wane past Elite rank. By the time he reached Master rank, he had been forced to take an even further step back. Now, with his first step toward becoming a Knight finally complete, he was that much closer to being able to stand toe-to-toe with his own Pokémon.

Finished recovering his mana, he flared it from his heart, sending it outward to envelop his body in a protective shell before suddenly bringing the greatsword down in a powerful slash. Dark energy crawled from his hands and spread across the blade mid-swing, activating the advanced sword technique Night Slash and carving a black arc through the air. The shell covering his body flickered before abruptly petering out, consuming a massive amount of stamina in the process.

Fortunately, his stamina was practically inexhaustible compared to the demands of the technique. He immediately resumed his breathing exercises to recover before repeating the process, spending nearly all his free time training without pause. His goal was simple. He wanted to raise his Knight rank until it matched the rank of his physical body.

As Alex continued minding his own business, a pair of eyes watched him from the barracks with undisguised hostility. The young, blond-haired man rubbed the stump where Alex had severed his arm, still unwilling to accept what had happened. All he had wanted was to recruit this useful adventurer, yet the bastard cut his arm off. He should have accepted his punishment and died by his sword, but instead, he had the audacity to fight back against his betters.

Since the official duel had ended in such a humiliating tragedy, a more brutal method would be necessary to put the adventurer in his place. His uncle was a Rank 5 Knight and was coming to collect him after his failure at this training outpost, but he wouldn’t be leaving empty-handed. No, he needed to take both arms and legs from his assailant before he could sleep peacefully at night again.